UK (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Justice Secretary David Lammy confirmed 12 more prisoners were mistakenly released, with two still missing, bringing the UK’s total errors since April past 100.
As reported by Sky News, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy has revealed that twelve inmates were wrongly released last month, with two still at large.
What did David Lammy say about the latest prisoner release errors?
David Lammy, speaking to Mornings with Ridge and Frost, confirmed that additional prisoners have been accidentally released since his previous statement.
When asked how many inmates had been wrongly released since his 11 November update to MPs, the Justice Secretary said,
“There have been two.”
He later confirmed to the BBC that, since his previous statement, 12 prisoners were released in error, with two still at large.
Mr Lammy said,
“There have been 12 since I made that statement (November 11). At the moment two are currently at large,”
adding,
“I made clear to Parliament that the trajectory began to increase in the last four years of the last Government because of their new release scheme, the complexity of that system.”
Previously, the deputy prime minister confirmed that 91 prisoners had been mistakenly released from prisons in England and Wales since April.
Mr Lammy said,
“There have been releases in error since I made that statement, but I want to convey that the trend this year is fortunately downwards. There are two people currently at large… and a prison system that is paper-based. Mistakes happen.”
Pressed for more information on the mistaken releases, he declined to give a “running commentary.”
Mr Lammy stated,
“It’s important that I release that data in the way that it’s always been released. And it’s also important that I work with police where someone is at large, and sometimes because the police are about to nab somebody, they actually don’t want me to discuss it, and it’s important that they get on to it.”
The Justice Secretary confirmed to ITV that the two inmates remaining on the run do not pose a violent or sexual threat.
Asked about Wandsworth, from which some prisoners have recently been mistakenly released, Mr Lammy said,
“There are issues at Wandsworth.”
He also highlighted problems at other prisons, describing the task of reforming the system as a “mountain to climb.”
How did David Lammy respond to the wrongful release of Hadush Kebatu?
The case of Hadush Kebatu, an Epping-based offender, exposed the crisis of wrongful prisoner releases. The Ethiopian national was mistakenly freed from HMP Chelmsford instead of being transferred to an immigration detention centre.
An ex-asylum seeker, who had been staying at the Bell Hotel in Epping during the sexual assaults on a 14-year-old girl and a woman, fled to London, where he was arrested in Finsbury Park following a two-day manhunt.
Immigration officials paid him £500 to prevent disruption of a deportation flight, the Justice Secretary said he intends to meet the family of Kebatu’s victim.
Mr Lammy added,
“They are meeting with the Prisons Minister. I intend to be there at that meeting. I hope it’s been scheduled because, of course, any victim of crime who then finds out that the prisoner has been wrongly released, should not be put through that trauma.”
Following the Kebatu case, an Algerian sex offender and another prisoner were wrongly released and remained at large.
The Metropolitan Police said 24-year-old Brahim Kaddour-Cherif was restrained near Capital City College in north London.
William Smith, 35, sentenced to 45 months for fraud, was mistakenly released from a Category B prison in south-west London on the day of his sentencing. He later returned to HMP Wandsworth.
How did Robert Jenrick react to David Lammy’s prisoner release admissions?
Commenting on David Lammy’s admission regarding inmate releases, Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said,
“Calamity Lammy admits two more dangerous prisoners have been mistakenly released. But he won’t say who they are or where they are. When will this fiasco end?”
He added,
“Fifteen minutes later, Calamity says 12 prisoners have in fact been released by mistake, not two. Twelve in three weeks. So the problem has got worse since he intervened. This is a total shambles.”
How many prisoners were mistakenly released in the UK in 2025?
The data shows that a total of 262 prisoners were wrongly released in the 12 months leading up to March 2025, more than doubling from 115 in the past year.
Of these, 233 were freed in error from prison establishments, while 29 were released by mistake at courts. Some wrongly freed prisoners in 2025 were asylum seekers, including Hadush Kebatu, a sex offender.
A record total of around 111,084 people claimed asylum in the UK in the year ending June 2025. This marks a 14% increase from the last year and the highest level on record. Nearly 32,059 asylum seekers were temporarily accommodated in hotels across the UK as of mid-2025.
